


Antics of a Kitten

by BourbonKid



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Crazy kitten antics, Loki sucks at switching spells, Rumlow doesn't work for PETA, Steve has a soft heart, Thor loves fluffy things with claws
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-17
Updated: 2016-02-17
Packaged: 2018-05-21 07:08:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6042691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BourbonKid/pseuds/BourbonKid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki vanishes after losing to the Avengers. Steve rescues a black kitten with green eyes from the battleground. Coincidence?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Antics of a Kitten

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write something non-sexual for a change. 
> 
> I own one of those fluffy little monsters so I know exactly what I'm talking about. In fact, I wrote this story with my cat snoring on my lap. I love her <3 
> 
> As usual, I'm sorry for any mistakes!!!

The battle had been one hell of a fight.

Black Widow had nearly been beheaded and Hawkeye had actually fallen off a building. If it hadn’t been for Iron Man, who’d swept in and caught him right out of the air, Clint would have ended up as a splat on the asphalt.

Luckily, no one had been severely injured. Their wounds consisted of a few scratches, bruises and in Thor’s case a viscous cut on his left forearm. The wound was already healing though.

The city however, had suffered massively under the attack. They had been able to evacuate the battleground before the fight had gotten nasty but the area looked like an atomic bomb had blown off. Which came uncomfortably close to the truth of an alien army invading New York once again. They’d had explosive devices after all, that contained acid and the fluid had eaten itself right through the debris that was left from each detonation.

The sleeting rain that kept pouring down from a lead colored sky wasn’t brightening the mood either. Steve sighted as he climbed over the rubble of a collapsed building in search of his shield. He’d lost it earlier, when he’d thrown it to take out the cause of the days hassle – Loki himself. Unfortunately, the demigod had managed to dodge the blow and vanish off to safety. His escape made the whole fight seem kind of pointless since they hadn’t even been able to secure the trickster. But at least they’d saved the city from total destruction and driven out the invaders.

Steve’s whole body ached and he was yearning for a hot shower and a good nights sleep.

 

Finally, he spotted the bright colors of his shield under a pile of debris. He climbed over the ruins of a smashed red mustang and sank down to one knee in order to reach for his weapon. The shield had wedged itself into a collapsed wall and was stuck hanging out of the concrete at knee level. When Steve took hold of its edge, ready to pull it free, a small miserable noise reached his ear and he paused. Leaning down even further, he peered into the small dark space under the collapsed wall. He could barely make out two tiny glowing spots in the gloom.

The noise sounded again and the pitiful little mewl tugged painfully at Steve’s big heart. Without hesitation, he slid his hand into the slot and felt around carefully for the source of the sound. His fingers encountered a wet softness and the mewing turned into a small hiss. Despite the obvious protest, he took hold of the furry thing and pulled it out into the light.

It turned out to be a kitten.

The creature’s black fur was soaking wet and it meowed reproachfully at Steve. The glowing green eyes closed each time the kitten meowed and its whole body shook with the effort to produce the sound. The mewing was actually quite load now that the noise wasn’t muffled by the debris any longer.

Steve’s heart melted instantly. He cradled the little thing against his chest with one hand while he pulled his shield free with the other. The kitten wriggled in his grasp and its sharp claws bored into the front of Steve’s uniform. The meowing turned up a notch and Steve hurried to hold his shield above his head in order to shelter the kitten from the downpour.

He made his way back to the quinjet quickly, eager to get the creature out of the rain. Some members of his STRIKE team greeted him exhaustedly when he passed them on his way. He threw out a few words of praise but he didn’t stop. They’d fought well today but Loki’s escape was bound to let the victory feel more like a defeat. Anyway, he couldn’t afford to waste any time, the cat had probably caught pneumonia by now.

 

He climbed the ramp swiftly and encountered the other Avengers already gathered on the quinjet. They looked as beat as STRIKE outside and a moody silence had settled over the jet’s interior. Steve let the shield sink, setting it down against the wall next to the emergency seats.

The kitten mewled again, drawing attention to itself. Thor perked his head up in Steve’s direction and his eyes lit up as soon as he took in the tiny ball of fur in Steve’s arms. With two long strides, he crossed the space between them in his unique boisterous manner. “What is that tiny creature you’ve brought, Captain?”, he inquired jovially.

“It’s a cat”, Steve explained a little insecurely. “A kitten actually – a small cat. Don’t you have those on Asgard?”

Thor shook his head no, clearly saddened that he’d missed out on this particular part of terrestrial fauna. “I’ve never seen one”, he said wistfully. “But then again, they seem quite small. I could have missed them, maybe. Can I touch it?”

Steve nodded and Thor stretched his hand out gingerly. However, the kitten didn’t seem to approve of the demigod. It hissed at him and one paw lashed out to sink its pointy claws into Thor’s fingers. Steve took a shocked step backwards and tightened his cradling hold on the cat, scared of how Thor might react to the kitten’s attitude. His fear was clearly unfounded though, because the demigod barked out a loud laugh and exclaimed amusedly: “Oh it’s got fight in it! I like it!”

Attracted by the commotion, the other Avengers took note of Steve’s find as well.

Bruce was as intrigued as Thor and the kitten allowed the man to scratch behind its damp ears. It even started to purr a little and it chased the touch with its head, much to Bruce’s delight.

“Cute”, Natasha commented in a flat voice after taking one look at the animal, before she sauntered off to the cockpit.

Clint conjured up a towel from somewhere and proceeded to rub the cat’s fur dry tenderly. The kitten didn’t like his ministration quite as much as Bruce’s but it endured the care without complaint.

“You’re not planning on bringing that to the tower, are you Cap?”, Tony inquired in a challenging tone, when he left the cockpit to Natasha and stalked over to them. Steve shot him an affronted look. “Why not? It was all alone out there! We can’t just leave it behind!”, he protected his foundling, a little taken aback by Tony’s coldness.

“And who’s gonna look after him?”, Tony sneered. “What are you gonna feed him? You don’t even have a litter box or anything!”

He had to admit that Tony had a point. “Well, I can buy supplies”, he grumbled defensively. “And how do you know it’s a him?”

Tony looked at him incredulously. “Even you can’t be that innocent, Cap!”, he stated sarcastically. Steve in turn took hold of the kitten with both hands and stretched his arms out to hold it up in front of him. Tony was right, it was definitely a ‘him’.

He gathered the wriggling cat back to his chest, taking the towel out of Clints hand to wrap the fabric around the protesting animal. “Fine”, he said sulkily to Tony, “I’ll handle it by myself.” He turned on his heel and climbed out of the quinjet again, bellowing Rumlow’s name in his most commanding tone.

The STRIKE leader hurried over from his current activities and stood to attention in front of his captain, eying the bundled up kitten dubiously. “Rumlow, we have a victim of today’s battle”, Steve explained in a stern voice, indicating the cat in his grasp. The man looked skeptical but didn’t argue. “He needs to be taken care of. I’d handle it myself but I’ve got to debrief to Fury right away. Therefore I’ll need you to pick up a few supplies, namely cat food and a litter box.”

Rumlow’s eyes bulged slightly and he opened and closed his mouth a few times, searching for the right words. “With all due respect, sir”, he said carefully, “that’s not my job. I’m a combat specialist and I’m not working for PETA!”

Steve’s eyes narrowed dangerously and Rumlow gulped audibly. “Get to work”, he growled in a low voice. “That’s a direct order.”

For a moment, Rumlow seemed torn but then he complied and saluted Steve in a curt gesture of acknowledgement. Steve watched the man scurry off to carry out his captain’s instructions. Pleased, he made his way back to the jet and shot Tony a defiant look when he boarded.

 

Steve set the kitten down gently on the lush carpet of his room in the Avengers tower.

The animal’s fur had dried completely during the flight and was now incredibly soft and shiny. Steve was reluctant to let go of the fluffy sensation underneath his fingers but he had to get going. He was already late for his debriefing, so he left the kitten to itself after one last loving scratch to its head.

As usual, Fury droned on and on about what had gone wrong in the day’s battle and why they had failed to catch Loki again. Steve had to fight to keep his eyes open. Afterwards, he was questioned about every little detail of his individual fights repeatedly. When he was finally released, he had almost forgotten about the furry guest residing in his room.

The memory came back to the forefront of his thoughts when he found the supplies he’d asked for neatly stacked in front of his door. He reminded himself to thank Rumlow later and inspected the pile. There was enough cat food to last for at least a week and the litter box was stacked with white sand already. The man had even bought two bowls, one for water and one for food. Maybe Rumlow was due to a pay rise.

Content, Steve opened the door and stepped inside. As soon as he took in the state of his room though, he reeled back. The covers of his bed were mussed and his pillow had been thrown to the floor. The filling had been ripped out of the slip and white feathers were covering most of his floor and furniture. The lamp on his nightstand had tumbled to the carpet and the lampshade was dented where it had taken the blunt of the fall. The book he’d laid down next to it lay facedown on the floor as well, one page had been ripped out halfway and stood out in an awkward angle.

At the foot of his bed sat the kitten, obviously very pleased with his work. Green eyes focused on Steve and a demanding meow broke free of the little throat. The cat proceeded to climb down from the bed but he was too small to make the jump in one go. Instead, he clawed himself into the fabric on the bed frame and lowered himself to the floor in an adorably ungraceful tumble. Steve would have been enthralled if not for the ripping sound of the fabric on his bed frame and the surrounding mess.

He was more than a little annoyed by the kittens antics and prepared himself to scold him for his bad behavior. Though when the ball of black fur strutted over to him, meowing continuously, his anger dissolved. It was evident from the demanding tone in the cat’s voice that he was hungry. Steve bent down to pet the kitten’s soft back and brought in the supplies afterwards.

Soon, the kitten was devouring his first meal in Steve’s home. For a moment, he was virtually worried that the cat would upset his stomach because he bolted down the food in record time. Eventually, he slowed down though and continued to clean his splotched face with the help of his paw and tongue.

Reassured, Steve busied himself with setting his room back together. However, the relief was short-lived because half a minute later, his guest began to meow in a high-pitched whining tone. The noise was so urgent that Steve almost panicked in his frenzy to ascertain the cause of the cat’s discomfort. The kitten walked into the litter box, then jumped back out and stalked off to the bathroom under constant mewling. At last, Steve figured out that the cat wasn’t content with the position of the box.

He carried it over to the bathroom and the kitten seemed to approve of his choice. As soon as he’d set the litter box down, the animal dashed inside and started to dig right away. Steve retreated to the doorstep of the bathroom but the cat paused in his digging and hissed at him until he’d left. Apparently, his guest valued his privacy.

Steve wondered if all cats were this bossy but he lacked the means for a comparison. He’d never had a pet in his youth due to his allergies before the serum. So he shrugged and accepted it as the kitten’s character.

 

The next couple of days proved to be a real challenge for Steve’s patience.

The kitten was usually cute as buttons but at times, he suspected him to be a manifestation of the devil himself. His furniture and belongings suffered under the onslaught of tiny claws like the city had suffered under Loki’s attack. Before long, the padding on his bed frame and recliner was sporting scratch marks and the filling started to come out. The carped showed clear signs of abuse as well and more than one glass had shattered or spilled its contents onto the floor.

The more Steve scolded, the bolder the kitten seemed to become. He practically taunted the captain, meowing provocatively to catch his attention, before chugging an object – like for example a pen or Steve’s phone – down from the desk or a shelf. The kitten seemed to be overly amused each time Steve had to get up and put the object back to its original place. The procedure was repeated multiple times, until Steve gave in and put his belongings into the desk’s drawers. Before long, his room looked rather bare but at least it was secure from the furry daemon's terror now.

Besides the cat’s urges to destroy everything he could get his paws on, he was relatively good company. Steve had to leave early every morning in order to squeeze in a run with Sam before his daily duties as Captain America began. The kitten tried his best to keep Steve from leaving each time he put on his running shoes. Steve developed a bad conscience for every minute he didn’t spend with the animal.

On the upside, he was greeted enthusiastically when he came home in the evenings. Nothing could top the feeling of the tiny head butting against his wrist in overjoyed welcome. Steve also took time to play with his new companion every night. He was amused by the tail fluffing up in agitation and by the butt-wriggling before an attack. The nights were spent with the warm purring kitten either on Steve’s chest or on his pillow, right next to his head.

Tony kept teasing him about the kitten at every opportunity. Luckily, he didn’t come by to pay them a visit though. He’d probably have gotten a heart attack if he’d seen the state of the room.

Thor, Bruce and Clint on the other hand visited regularly. The kitten was still skeptical about Thor but Bruce and Clint were accepted into his realm easily enough. They all kept needling him to give the animal a name but Steve hadn’t decided yet. However, he was adamant about keeping the kitten, despite Tony’s initial protests. Steve was way too invested to give him away by now.

 

It was a stormy night when it happened.

Steve had curled up under the covers with a good book, the kitten snuggled up comfortably against his side. After a while, the animal started to grow fidgety. Steve stroked the soft fur absentmindedly to calm him, still absorbed in his book. The wriggling continued though and the cat began to meow lowly as well. Steve put the book down and glanced at him with a concerned look.

“What’s wrong?”, he inquired, his brows knitted together.

The kitten mewled unhappily in answer and big green eyes stared back at him. Steve was unsure what he was supposed to do. Maybe the cat was ill? Should he call a vet? Should he ask Banner for help?

He was still contemplating his options, when he registered a strange thing about the cat’s eyes. Somehow, they seemed to grow darker under his gaze, their glow turning duller and their expression less catlike and more… human.

Steve blinked but the change didn’t reverse itself.

Right in front of Steve, the kitten meowed one last time. There was a sudden blast of cold air and Steve had to close his eyes briefly. When he opened them again, a man sat in the kittens place on the bed right next to him.

Steve made a gargled chocked off sound of shock in the back of his throat. He scrambled back against the headboard, the book thumping to the floor in his frenzy to get away from the intruder.

Steve’s heartbeat thundered in his chest as he took in the dark haired man. Glossy black hair cascaded down to broad shoulders and bright green eyes sat in a chiseled face. Steve stared wide-eyed at a buck ass naked Loki sitting on his covers.

“What… what…?”, he stammered.

Loki shook his head to clear his mind, causing his hair to tousle a little more. One of his hands came up to wipe over his face in a gesture of confusion. Then he focused on Steve, who had retreated to the very end of the bed and was currently clutching the headboard in a death grip. He took in Steve’s heavy breathing, his checked pattern pajama pants and the white t-shirt he’d worn to bed.

“Huh”, he commented rather ineloquently.

Slowly, recognition dawned on the demigods face and Steve could actually witness a blush creeping onto Loki’s cheeks. “That didn’t quite work out as I had planned”, he commented.

Steve had never felt that out of his depths before. It dawned on him, that Loki had actually tricked him into taking him in. Steve had fed him, cared for him, played with him. He’d even let him sleep in the same bed with him, on his chest! “But… You’re… You were a cat!”, he said accusingly.

Loki had the decency to cringe under Steve’s reproachful tone. “Well”, he explained sulkily, “I didn’t mean to change into a cat. Something must have meddled with the spell.”

Steve kept gawking at him. “Then what did you mean to turn into?”, he snapped.

Loki rolled his eyes in annoyance at his slow apprehension. “Something bigger, obviously”, he drawled sarcastically. After a moment of reflection, he added in a contemplative murmur: “I must have lost my memories for a while.”

Steve didn’t know what to say to that so he kept his mouth shut.

Loki cocked his head, most likely thinking about what to do. Next, he got up from the bed and stalked over to Steve’s closet. He threw the doors open and peered inside with a curious yet distasteful look on his face. The demigod proceeded to search through Steve’s belongings, throwing everything that wasn’t to his liking onto the floor beside him. His demeanor reminded Steve strongly of the kitten he’d shared his life with for the last couple of days.

Finally, Loki seemed to happen upon something he deemed worthy and he slipped into a pair of dress pants and a white shirt. The clothes were a little shaggy on Loki’s slightly slimmer frame but the length was right. Pleased with the results of his pillage, the demigod whirled around and aimed his undivided attention at Steve on the bed.

He pointed one elegant finger at Steve in warning and growled at him: “If you tell anyone about this, I’ll kill you. Worse, I’ll change you into a toad!”

Steve nodded, because who would believe him anyway? He’d just tell the other’s that his allergies had come back or that he hadn’t had enough time to look after the kitten in the end.

Loki seemed satisfied and he strutted over to the door in a haughty fashion. Laying his hand onto the handle, he paused without turning around. “Thanks for the… “, he trailed off and let the words hang in the air, unspoken. Then he tore open the door and vanished, leaving Steve to stare after him with a dumbfounded look on his face.

Steve developed a distrustful attitude towards cats from there on.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed! :)


End file.
